The qin strings wrap around the left hand end of the qin and are then tied to two legs. On the right hand side they are each knotted and this knot should rest on top of the bridge, where it goes through a twisted "rongkou" (cord, usually translated as "tassel"). The best position for the knot is near the front (playing side) of the bridge. Each of the seven tassels goes through its hole in the qin top then into a hole at the top end of its peg. It is fastened to the peg by putting it through a side hole near the top of the peg, looping it around the peg, putting back through the same side hole then bringing it out the bottom; from here it hangs down. After a short distance there is a knot in the twisted cord. Below the knot either the threads hang freely, or an ornament is fastened, from which threads hang freely. It is because of this latter characteristic that "rongkou" is usually translated as "tassel".2

By tradition, the best material for the tassels is silk thread. Silk tassels should last a long time. However, cotton ones are common now and they break more easily (I have no data on rayon or other synthetics). Whatever the material, if a tassel breaks it must be replaced. This is a time consuming process, so even though tassels break very rarely, it is worthwhile having a spare peg with tassel already threaded available for an emergency.

The number of loops mentioned below in making the tassels is based on those strings and particular pegs. If the thread has a different gauge, or the pegs have different sized holes, the number of loops will be different. The tassels should fit snugly into the peg holes, otherwise they will slip; and the thicker they are the stronger they are. However, if they are too thick they will not go doubled through the side peg hole.

Tie the ends of the thread together so that the knot is just at the bottom side of the lower nail. Cut off most of the extra thread so that it is no longer connected to the spool.

Take the 2 - 3 inch nail mentioned above and slip it in next to the fixed nail, within the loop, then slide the looped thread off the fixed nail and onto the free one. Pull on the free nail so that the looped thread runs firmly between it and the L-screw, making sure the knot is still touching the nail on the side away from the L-screw.

Start twisting this nail counter-clockwise as you face the L-screw. Twist until the string begins to curl on itself. With the length mentioned above this should take about 150 turns. Make sure the twists are uniform for the length of the string.

Holding the free nail firmly in one hand, place a finger of the other hand at the mid point of the looped thread, then bring the free nail right next to the L-screw. What was before the two ends of the looped thread should now be together, forming the bottom end of what will be the tassel. The aforementioned finger of the other hand is now inside what will be the loop at the top end of the tassel.

Still holding firmly, rotate the aforementioned finger in a clockwise direction as you face the L-screw, twisting until the inside of the loop has closed up on the finger, probably just over 30 turns.

Ease the tassel off the L-screw, then loop the top end of the tassel around once so that you tie a simple knot near the lower end of the tassel. It is important that this be close to the end and tied firmly but not so tightly that it cannot be easily untied. The nail should now come out easily.

Not considered here are ornamental attachments some people nowadays like to put at the end of tassels: beads, brightly colored ornamental fringes and so forth. They often seem garish, and I have not yet found historical references to them.

Footnotes

1.Tassels (or: "cords": 絨扣 rongkou)"Rongkou" itself (絨扣 28014.xxx) literally means "yarn fastenings", while 絨 rong by itself gives as its earliest references 玉篇 Yu Pian (6th c.), 集韻 Ji Yun (11th c.) and 正字通 Zheng Zi Tong (17th c.). The translation "tassels" comes from the way the threads hang down from the qin pegs (軫 zhen). However, there is some evidence that on the earliest qin (Han dynasty and/or earlier) the rongkou did not dangle from the pegs. In fact, it cannot be said with certainty that the earliest cords consisted of a number of single threads, so that they easily lent themselves to shortening and lengthening via twisting, or whether they were solid cords that did not so easily perform this function.

2."Cord" vs "tassel"Today it is quite popular, instead of making long tassels, to make short cords that extend only a little below the pegs; here an external tassel is then added. Many players consider this rather garish.
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Active Trimming Co.
250 West 39th Street
New York (Manhattan, between 7th and 8th Ave.)

Active Trimming, whose card says it has an office in Hong Kong, had about 10 different colors available by the spool (185 yards) or box (nine spools). They also had a chart from Utica Thread Company that showed many more colors, including 558. One spool was $10. With the hook and nail 1.3 meters (4' 3") apart, and using 12 loops (making a tassel having 24 strands), I can make about five tassels from one spool.

The same spool can be bought directly from Utica Thread Company
(www.uticathread.com). Select "silk", then "Silk Spools". For thickness I use "F". Mine are also Mach 185 yards per spool" and when I looked there was a choice of almost 250 colors, but this did not include the specific one I bought, 558 [dark navy]), and the colors were not very accurate. If you know the color you want, Utica suggested sending them a sample and they will match it.

The cost for the same thread from Utica is $7.50. However, they would like a minimum order of $25, and normally charge (in 2004) $6.95 postage and handling.

Utica Thread is not in Utica. When I last visited them they were near Kennedy Airport on Long Island, but they later moved to Connecticut. They told me that the original silk material comes from China, then is dyed and woven into thread in the U.S. Comparing it to synthetics like nylon, they say that silk has comparable strength, but lasts much longer.

Comparing the two Charles R. Tsua writes that the Saw Mill threads have a better price, adding, "Coats Seta Reale threads are thicker, mainly for sewing buttonholes. The Silk Mill threads are more like embroidery silk but they have more length, and weight for weight have more silk. They are sold in skeins rather than spools; each skein is made of one bunch of 6 threads, each being 6.5m in length so 39m in total. I've made two sets of rongkou out of them and they are very good. You only need four skeins to make a set of 8 (without long tassels incorporated into the rongkou itself)".
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4.
With some of his earlier pegs I have only been able to do eleven. Sometimes I have done as few as nine or as many as thirteen loops. If you do too many loops it becomes very difficult to put them in and out the side peg hole.
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